I have a hard time with the politicization of religious life.
My relationship with Jesus is my relationship with Jesus. You don’t get to take that away from me, and I don’t want it used to sell me snake oil – or candidates. That gets my back *right* up.
Plus, I don’t think it makes for good witness, to conflate conservative religious convictions with conservative political opinion. “This person represents all of me” – HAH. I think **not**. I’m not going to follow in lock-step with … well, anyone. Anyone but Christ and my husband, and I have to work at both of those. Authority I haven’t voluntarily taken on? Are you kidding me right now? No. The Republican party platform doesn’t cover every bit of me, thankyouverymuch. (I would, for example, like Monsanto et al treated like public enemy #1, not given farm subsidies).
And I don’t want to argue politics WHILE I argue religion. I can back Jesus up all day long, but don’t ask me to do it for Trump. Or Reagan. They’re not infallible. And in the eternal-lens, not all that important.
So there is always the temptation to ignore politics and get back to my own things. I would like that. I would like to ignore politics excepting a few weeks before election day, to review data prior to voting.
But … our country feels like it’s in the throws of insanity. You ignore politics for a year, and suddenly you can’t call a man a man without going to jail in some states or politely refuse to create art for a function you find abhorrent without being sued. Through the looking glass is where we live. Politics now serves to defend normalcy.
Or does it? Are we as Christians just being used to push things we don’t care about by waving a carrot of things that we DO? Call me cynical if you will – on the motivation of politicians, it’s an accurate description.
I feel that we, as citizens in a democratic republic, have a duty to at least vote. It’s a power we’re given, and thus it’s a responsibility that has been thrust on us.
At the same time, white robes are being given out at an ever increasing rate.. I mean, we’ve all read the back of the Book, right? We know how this ends up for us. Things get horribly dark before the dawn.
I feel like there is a duty to stand, since I’ve been given that power, and yet I know the tide will eventually blow over my position. Eventually, I’ll be a persona non grata. My motivation for standing cannot, therefore, be winning the world’s game. I would sit out, but … I don’t feel that I can.
But I DO feel that politics is the least important thing that I do. That my witness is in my behavior, in my friendships, in my lifestyle, and in my evident enjoyment of my Lord. It’s souls I want to win.
Thoughts?